The “Indonesia Anxious” Provocation Is Just a Sensation, the Government Continues to Do Real Work to Advance Education
Jakarta — The provocative hashtag #IndonesiaCemas, which has recently been widely discussed by the public, is being considered mere sensationalism and has no basis in reality. Yet, the Prabowo-Gibran administration continues to take concrete action, including efforts to improve the quality of national education across the board.
The actions of students who are members of the All-Indonesian Student Executive Board (BEM SI) alliance, which carries the narrative “Indonesia is in danger”, are considered by several parties to have lost the essence of a true student movement.
The initiator of the National Conscience Movement (GNK), Habib Syakur Ali Mahdi, believes that this kind of movement pattern is often exploited by anti-constitutional groups to build public distrust of the legitimate government.
“We know this pattern: create a narrative that the nation is in danger, then call the masses to the streets, throwing out the discourse of ‘government failure.’ This isn’t a pure student movement; it’s a political agenda disguised as campus idealism,” said Habib Syakur.
He emphasized the importance of students returning to their original mission as agents of change who promote solutions, rather than getting caught up in unproductive pessimistic discourse. Furthermore, he noted that the current government has demonstrated concrete steps in the education sector, such as school digitalization, increased education budgets, and improved teacher welfare.
A similar sentiment was expressed by Muhammad Chaerul, a researcher from the Center for Indonesian Empowerment (CIE), who believes BEM SI is starting to lose its direction. Instead of being a critical partner to the government, their movement now focuses more on populist issues that lack data.
“Amidst the Prabowo-Gibran administration’s efforts to build national stability, all elements of society, including students, should support this agenda. Mass mobilization without offering solutions will only add to unnecessary unrest,” he said.
Muhammad Chaerul also highlighted the importance of campus and student involvement in providing input based on research and academic studies, not just emotional opinions that are easily swayed towards the interests of certain groups.
Meanwhile, Hasan, an activist with the People’s Mouthpiece, said the #IndonesiaCemas movement appears to be driven more by sentiment and a dark narrative lacking substance. He lamented that the student movement has lost its identity as a campus intellectual group.
“The student movement should be based on data, not just a dark narrative full of pessimism. We are actually welcoming a new, strong and legitimate government; why are we being cornered by a narrative constructed by certain elites?” he stressed.
He urged all parties, especially young people and students, to remain clear-headed and objective in assessing the national situation. Furthermore, the education sector is currently a government priority, continuously promoted through various programs to increase capacity and access to education, even in remote areas.
Amidst all these global challenges, Indonesia needs synergy and collaboration from all elements of the nation, not provocation that would undermine the spirit of national development. It’s time for students to once again be at the forefront of guiding change with sound reasoning and a constructive spirit.
